Sale unfazed by high expectations

About one month into the 2017 season it is clear that Chris Sale is adapting better than expected to the high expectations that comes when the number one prospect in baseball, Yoan Moancada, is traded for your services.

The newly acquired Sale was expected to bring the same intensity and dominant skill-set that has landed him in the top 5 of Cy Young voting the previous 4 seasons but like many stars before him, most recently David Price, Sale was expected to take some time getting used to Beantown.

Apparently Sale did not get the message.

After 6 starts Sale holds a 2-2 record with an ERA of 1.38 and 6k’s over 45 innings. In his last start Sale went 8 striking out 11 while only allowing 2 ER’s. The 11k’s is siginificant as he became the only other player in BoSox history to record double-digit K’s in 5 consecutive starts since HOFer Pedro Martinez .

Sale is so far proving that sometimes even the brightest lights and highest expectations can not faze truly game changing talent. He is also reinforcing the old school thought of trading prospects for major league talent.

Sale appears to have been set free from the shackles of perpetual losing in Chicago and has embraced the wildly high expectations of being labeled as a true difference maker. With David Price on the mend the Sox needed Sale to be this good..and when Price is back to 100% their rotation will feature a 1-2 combo no playoff team will want to see.